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Case Study 3

Indian River Lagoon Water Quality Forum and Fishing Clinic Event

By Carol Roberts and Mandy Baily

In December of 2020, community members in Fort Pierce, Florida, met virtually to participate in a CIVIC Indian River Lagoon Water Quality forum. The topic was an important one for residents in the region because of their proximity to the Indian River Lagoon and the community’s reliance on it for subsistence, recreation, and ecosystem services. Once a vibrant estuary along the east coast of Florida hosting thousands of different species of marine life, the Indian River Lagoon has been damaged by pollutants and became an impaired waterway.

Attendees included a candidate for city commission, a brewery owner, a local pastor, and the leader of the local Black Chamber of Commerce, among others. Participation from representatives of the historically African American city of Fort Pierce were especially appreciated as it had been difficult for Extension to form partnerships with members of that community in the past. An influencing factor for participation might have been the establishment of CIVIC as a joint venture between the University of Florida (UF) and Florida A&M University (FAMU). Although both are land-grant institutions, FAMU is a historically Black college, from which several of our participants graduated.

As discussion ensued and perspectives were shared during the forum, it became clear that participants had different agendas for their participation, though all participants brought distinct concerns for the impacts of poor water quality. The city commission candidate’s focus on water quality stemmed from health considerations of those who relied on fish for subsistence from tributaries of the lagoon. The commissioner also spoke about barriers to accessing fishing areas, relaying a recent story of a man who was killed while fishing from a railroad bridge. These concerns were in stark contrast to the brewery owner’s frustration with access to convenient kayak launches where there would be no need to step in muck. Hearing these differences, everyone in the virtual room listened intently as the brewery owner exclaimed, “People are eating the fish they catch in those canals? That’s not safe!” The group determined that before more deliberative forums should be held on this topic, it would be important to find out which waterways were being tested and what those results indicated.

To that end, CIVIC worked with the community and recruited staff from the Ocean Research Conservation Alliance (ORCA). CIVIC and ORCA collaborated to offer a town hall meeting about fish toxicity. From that gathering, participants were motivated to organize a youth fishing event that would enable people to catch fish from the Indian River Lagoon while learning more about the waterway itself. Any wild-caught fish would be exchanged for farm-raised fish. While a farm-raised fish sandwich (or hot dog) was enjoyed by participants, any wild fish would be analyzed by ORCA for toxins.

On the day of the event, the community offered an informative and fun experience for local youth who were given new fishing poles and tackle boxes to use and keep. Despite rainy weather, twelve “keepers” were caught and donated to ORCA. Thirty-five youth learned fishing skills and waterway protection methods they can carry with them into adulthood. More than $2,000 in equipment and supplies was donated and most donors indicated a desire to contribute again for such as worthwhile event. Although there was enthusiastic engagement by local businesses, there was a palpable absence of the community leaders who initially suggested the need for the event.

In order to improve engagement methods, reflect on participant feedback, and consider the variables involved in creating change in communities throughout Florida, a CIVIC team member interviewed five of the six participants from the original October 2020 deliberative forum one year later to explore outcomes. An interview guide was designed to address the following questions:

  1. Does participation in a forum promote new relationships among community members?
  2. Did participants gain a new understanding or perspective on issues related to IRL water quality?
  3. What do participants do, if anything, as a result of attending a CIVIC-IRL forum?

Question 1

Does participation in a forum promote new relationships among community members? Only two of the six participants knew each other prior to the forum; three others were in professional contact after the forum at least once. Two participants commented on a new relationship formed with Extension faculty as a result of the forum.

Question 2:

Did participants gain a new understanding or perspective on issues related to IRL water quality? Responses ranged from no (one individual was already knowledgeable) to somewhat (two) to a lot (two).

Question 3:

What do participants do, if anything, as a result of attending a CIVIC-IRL forum? Responses ranged from nothing (one) to “I was already involved but was motivated by the forum to expand my network or become more active” (three) to “this forum got me up and running” (one).

Although responses unanimously revealed positive feedback on the opportunity to engage with others and learn new perspectives on this topic, there were also questions raised during the interviews about why participants were invited to attend and what the goal was for this CIVIC dialogue. Respondents wanted to know how to plan further engagement in their community and said the forum is a “great platform to learn from one another and assess issues together,” but they were left pondering to what end will dialogue really serve if no one picks up the task or leads an activity. Another person, however, suggested broadening the discussion by asking each person to bring others, including community leaders, to support next steps and create more integrated approaches.

While CIVIC’s deliberative dialogue forums provide a method of community engagement that has the capacity to promote new relationships among community members, offer new understandings or perspectives on issues, and motivate participants to take actionable steps of improving their community, there is still a need for better methods of co-creating community solutions. Although the CIVIC deliberative forum and subsequent youth fishing clinic were successful in raising awareness of water quality issues related to the Indian River Lagoon, with adult and youth audiences, there is still more to be done.

 

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